Silver Spring, MD (April 17, 2014) – Toyota and Discovery Education announced today the top ten finalists in the annual Toyota Teen Driver Video Challenge, the nation’s premier teen safe driving program. Beginning today and continuing for the next two weeks, these top ten inspirational videos will appear online for public voting not only to determine the grand prize winner, but also to send a national reminder about the importance of safe teen driving.

Washington, D.C. (April 9, 2014) — Millions of people who visit Washington each year go to see its famous monuments or view the historic records, which chronicle significant events in the nation’s history.

TORRANCE, Calif., Feb. 1, 2013 – Toyota Financial Services (TFS) is hosting the U.S. segment of the worldwide Toyota Dream Car Art Contest, which is designed to inspire creativity in youth and encourage an interest in cars. Across the nation, youth, ages 4-15, are invited to create and submit a drawing of their idea of a “Dream Car” during Feb. 1-28, 2013. Full contest details, along with required entry forms and questionnaires, are available online at www.TFSintheCommunity.com .

LOS ANGELES (Oct. 13, 2012) – A Toyota Tundra half-ton pickup truck without any special modifications successfully towed the 150,000 pound space shuttle Endeavour across a bridge spanning the nation’s busiest freeway on Friday night, Oct. 12. The tow was a result of a 20-year partnership between Toyota and the California Science Center to raise awareness of the space program and continue public education through exhibits and events.

Filed under: Car Buying , Chevrolet , Chrysler , Ford , GM , Honda , Toyota Ask any sales and marketing executive from Chrysler , Ford or General Motors what their company’s greatest challenge is and they will unequivocally reply, “California.” The Golden State accounts for 12.5 percent of all new car sales in the United States, but even more importantly, it is seen as a bellwether for the nation. As the home of the entertainment and consumer electronics industries, California has an outsized reach into our nation’s popular culture – but Californians have historically been among the least receptive to domestic products. There’s some evidence that trend may be changing, as domestic market share has been improving in the recent years, according to Forbes . Ford has seen its Blue Oval brand improve from seven percent in 2008 to over nine percent last year. Chevrolet topped six percent last year after three years of growth. Even Chrysler, which had a market share of less than four percent in 2010, has seen growth – to five percent in 2011 and almost six percent so far this year. Still, those numbers are a pittance compared to the import brands. According to The Detroit News , domestic automakers have a combined 30.8 percent share in California, well below their 44.3 percent national average. The domestics’ recent growth in California – the Japanese and Korean manufacturers’ “home turf” – has certainly been helped by supply shortages at Honda and Toyota , companies beset by natural disasters last year. If domestic automakers are going to continue to take share from foreign competition, they’re going to have to have more success stories like the recent surge in Chevrolet Volt sales, a phenomenon spurred by the availability of High Occupancy Vehicle lane stickers for GM’s plug-in hybrid.